Announced Device: Chord player. What would you like to see?

This forum is for discussing Rack Extensions. Devs are all welcome to show off their goods.
User avatar
deeplink
Competition Winner
Posts: 1073
Joined: 08 Jul 2020
Location: Dubai / Cape Town
Contact:

03 Jun 2022

As per the road map released, RS is releasing a "chord player".

Some topical questions, or discussion points;

What does this mean to you?
What would you like to see from such device?
How should this player differ from Polystep?
Get more Combinators at the deeplink website

User avatar
Billy+
Posts: 4157
Joined: 09 Dec 2016

03 Jun 2022

I wonder if the new chord progression player is going to be advanced?

I'm thinking
  • scaler level of progressions with mixed modes etc
  • With multiple routing options
  • A nice selection of built in rhythms
  • A interface for changes / variations
Given that an iPad version of scaler is on its way (June 24) with hopefully midi via USB.
I'm hoping that it will solve the missing vst midi support in Reason.



Given that scaler desktop is only £50

User avatar
DaveyG
Posts: 2499
Joined: 03 May 2020

03 Jun 2022

I came to this thread to point out that speculation is pointless and will only lead to disappointment given that they are only a month or two from launching the player so the functionality will be 99% fixed. This thread will fill up with lots of great ideas that will never be in it!

However, Billy has just trumped that with the Scaler 2 on IOS news. That's stellar for me. Many of my songs and tunes now start out on the iPad, in Korg Gadget, Beatmaker, GarageBand or Cubasis, and Scaler 2 will be a game changer for that stuff.

I find it weird that Reason started to have a presence on iOS and now choose to ignore it at a time when iPads are becoming serious bits of kit for music making. The next gen of music makers are going to wonder why people still insist on using mice and keyboards...

(Yeah, sorry for the thread derail but I am excited. :thumbup: )

User avatar
huggermugger
Posts: 1291
Joined: 16 Jul 2021

03 Jun 2022

PolyStep doesn't strike me as a 'chord player', but rather just a polyphonic sequencer. A beefed-up Scales & Chords is more what I'm expecting, something along the lines of ChordSQ from ReTouch.

User avatar
Billy+
Posts: 4157
Joined: 09 Dec 2016

03 Jun 2022

DaveyG wrote:
03 Jun 2022
However, Billy has just trumped that with the Scaler 2 on IOS news.
Yeah the news is definitely good and it's why I didn't see any reason to buy BLG in the recent sale, Im hoping that it will allow for routing via Reasons advanced midi interface like an advanced midi controller.

But you're 100% correct about great ideas followed by disappointment.

DJMaytag
Posts: 723
Joined: 17 Jun 2015
Location: Madison, WI
Contact:

04 Jun 2022

huggermugger wrote:
03 Jun 2022
PolyStep doesn't strike me as a 'chord player', but rather just a polyphonic sequencer. A beefed-up Scales & Chords is more what I'm expecting, something along the lines of ChordSQ from ReTouch.
The Scales & Chords player has been really good for me, but I wish there were some key combos that you could use to create more variations, like pressing an out of scale key to change the inversion, add color, etc.

I feel like there’s a “hole” in the realm of Scales & Chords, PolyStep, ChordSQ, and the TonicMint players, where something pretty dope could slide into filling.

User avatar
Billy+
Posts: 4157
Joined: 09 Dec 2016

04 Jun 2022

DJMaytag wrote:
04 Jun 2022
The Scales & Chords player has been really good for me, but I wish there were some key combos that you could use to create more variations, like pressing an out of scale key to change the inversion, add color, etc.

I feel like there’s a “hole” in the realm of Scales & Chords, PolyStep, ChordSQ, and the TonicMint players, where something pretty dope could slide into filling.
That's a really good idea

Being able to use the out of scale notes to swap mode minor to major for example :thumbup:

Grimlucky
Posts: 37
Joined: 31 Jul 2020

04 Jun 2022

I’d like to see RS enable VST midi out so I can use Scaler, Chord Prism, Captain Chords etc.

User avatar
dvdrtldg
Posts: 2386
Joined: 17 Jan 2015

04 Jun 2022

huggermugger wrote:
03 Jun 2022
A beefed-up Scales & Chords is more what I'm expecting, something along the lines of ChordSQ from ReTouch.
That would be interesting. Scales & Chords is a great idea, but in its current incarnation it's pretty useless imo. Takes way too much automation & combinator modding to get it to do anything interesting. I like ChordSQ better, but its interface is very clunky

DJMaytag
Posts: 723
Joined: 17 Jun 2015
Location: Madison, WI
Contact:

04 Jun 2022

I’m working on a track right now where I’m using Curve CV’s from 2x Matrix Sequencers plugged into a Combinator. The destinations are inversion and color.

I’m becoming a HUGE fan of using various sequencers controlling other sequencers to create a free running sequence with a ton of variation that would otherwise be a pretty bland 1 or 2 bar loop.

Bes
Competition Winner
Posts: 1127
Joined: 22 Feb 2017

04 Jun 2022

QNG for chords with knobs for happy/sad, excited/subdued, simple/complex etc
- Certified Reason expert

User avatar
huggermugger
Posts: 1291
Joined: 16 Jul 2021

05 Jun 2022

dvdrtldg wrote:
04 Jun 2022
huggermugger wrote:
03 Jun 2022
A beefed-up Scales & Chords is more what I'm expecting, something along the lines of ChordSQ from ReTouch.
That would be interesting. Scales & Chords is a great idea, but in its current incarnation it's pretty useless imo. Takes way too much automation & combinator modding to get it to do anything interesting. I like ChordSQ better, but its interface is very clunky
Agreed. ChordSQ is powerful, but awkward to use. Scales & Chords is easy to use, but limited in terms of chord types and sequence-ability.

DJMaytag
Posts: 723
Joined: 17 Jun 2015
Location: Madison, WI
Contact:

05 Jun 2022

I would say Scales & Chords is easy to use for basic chords, but easily accessing a mix of basic triads and things like add9 and sus2/4 isn’t very easy (suspensions might not even be possible, not that I think of it). S&C is totally fine and geared toward newer producers, but they need to make something for users who have moved beyond Music Theory 101 FWIW, I’m barely at Music Theory 102 here… LOL

My biggest issue with this type of player and a Eurorack oscillator I have that plays chords (Qu-Bit Chord V2) is the inflexibility of playing in a minor scale but wanting to drop a major 5th chord at certain points. This is where a key, maybe in an octave at very bottom and/or top end of the MIDI a note range, would be handy to use as modifier keys. Press MIDI note 1 to change a minor chord to a major (or vice versa), press note 2 to flat the 3rd to a sus2, etc.

User avatar
Billy+
Posts: 4157
Joined: 09 Dec 2016

05 Jun 2022

I get much more use from a £5 book than scales and chords

Image

User avatar
dvdrtldg
Posts: 2386
Joined: 17 Jan 2015

05 Jun 2022

My favourite player for chords by far is Inspiral. You can dial in a nice balance between control and randomness (also between chords/single notes/dual intervals/arps), and just play MIDI through it. Simple as that, even simpler than Scales & Chords in some respects - e.g. you can't set inversions or number of notes or "colour", instead you have a one-dial "complexity" function - but the results are much more musically satisfying. Hundreds of scales & modes, the only downside at the moment is you can only save four scale & key settings. But I'm told there will be more in an update

Other chord players give you more control over exactly how you set your chords up, but they also lock you into a very rigid set of parameters, or a weird clunky GUI (e.g. Chordline with its black notes/white notes thing). Inspiral is less predictable and makes more decisions for you, but to my ears they generally sound like good decisions. And of course (as with all players) once I've got it sounding in the ballpark of how I like it, I send notes to track and do further tweaking in the sequencer. That's where decisions are made governing inversions, "colour" notes etc. But the workflow is fast when you need it to be fast, i.e. at the early composition stage

User avatar
Billy+
Posts: 4157
Joined: 09 Dec 2016

20 Jun 2022

Anyone seen anything about this new device yet?

It's definitely summer now

https://reasonstudios.com/blog/ceo-road ... june-2022/
ReasonStudios wrote: We will release one more player before summer, which is a unique Reason Studios take on creating chord progressions.

User avatar
moneykube
Posts: 3447
Joined: 15 Jan 2015

20 Jun 2022

Billy+ wrote:
20 Jun 2022
Anyone seen anything about this new device yet?

It's definitely summer now

https://reasonstudios.com/blog/ceo-road ... june-2022/
ReasonStudios wrote: We will release one more player before summer, which is a unique Reason Studios take on creating chord progressions.
depends where you are... Summer 2022 in Northern Hemisphere will begin on Tuesday, June 21
that is tomorrow for me... I will be interested to see what it does, when it drops
but... can't get any closer to the before summer deadline lol
Last edited by moneykube on 20 Jun 2022, edited 1 time in total.
https://soundcloud.com/moneykube-qube/s ... d-playlist
Proud Member Of The Awesome League Of Perpetuals

User avatar
Billy+
Posts: 4157
Joined: 09 Dec 2016

20 Jun 2022

moneykube wrote:
20 Jun 2022
Billy+ wrote:
20 Jun 2022
Anyone seen anything about this new device yet?

It's definitely summer now

https://reasonstudios.com/blog/ceo-road ... june-2022/
depends where you are... Summer 2022 in Northern Hemisphere will begin on Tuesday, June 21
:lol: it's June 20th and the quote clearly says before summer ;)

User avatar
moneykube
Posts: 3447
Joined: 15 Jan 2015

20 Jun 2022

Billy+ wrote:
20 Jun 2022
moneykube wrote:
20 Jun 2022

depends where you are... Summer 2022 in Northern Hemisphere will begin on Tuesday, June 21
:lol: it's June 20th and the quote clearly says before summer ;)
yes... just noticed that and revised my comment as you posted lol... brain fog... still waking up :lol:
https://soundcloud.com/moneykube-qube/s ... d-playlist
Proud Member Of The Awesome League Of Perpetuals

sasasch
Posts: 32
Joined: 23 Oct 2017

22 Jun 2022

still no release

User avatar
Noise
Competition Winner
Posts: 470
Joined: 16 Jan 2015
Location: Lisbon
Contact:

22 Jun 2022

I heard a rumor that this new device is so powerful that reason studios is closing the software business and starting a new super-band just to play with it.
Albums: BandCamp | Youtubz: Noise Channel
Projects: P1 Easy Remote Mapping | Personal Refill Sale Store: https://payhip.com/noisesystems | Title Generator! untitled.noiseshadow.com

User avatar
Billy+
Posts: 4157
Joined: 09 Dec 2016

22 Jun 2022

It's crazy how many announcements end up missing the ruff dates just lately

4 out of 9 streams are MIA from session 2
Vst3 support delayed until some time this year
M1 support delayed until some time this year

Now a player launching before summer that hasn't even had a leak video and it's summer :?

At least get someone to accidentally give some thing away..... yes I'm talking to you Ryan ;)

User avatar
Re8et
Competition Winner
Posts: 1511
Joined: 14 Nov 2016

22 Jun 2022

Something like the J-6 phrases would be cool... so I don't have to buy it :D

j6phrases.PNG
j6phrases.PNG (52.26 KiB) Viewed 3328 times

User avatar
Zerosity
Posts: 133
Joined: 18 Jun 2015

22 Jun 2022

Maybe they accidentally left off a key phrase for that statement; "end of".
ReasonStudios wrote: We will release one more player before summer, which is a unique Reason Studios take on creating chord progressions.
ReasonStudios wrote: We will release one more player before "end of" summer, which is a unique Reason Studios take on creating chord progressions.
I still hate that this is a player and not functionality within the DAW with a Chord Track and supporting tools (like Tracktion Waveform or Studio One) .

Studio One Chord Track:


Waveform Chord Track:
Chord Track -

Custom Chords -


Maybe they are thinking about something closer to Waveforms Chord Companion or as you guys have already mentioned, Scaler:


If only they'd implement midi effects, but then they wouldn't be able to sell this player without major new ideas other VST midi effects don't have.

Ya, I'm still salty at the path they keep choosing.

sasasch
Posts: 32
Joined: 23 Oct 2017

22 Jun 2022

It is a shame how Reason‘s marketing works.
Announced devices/features will not be released in schedule or it it is released in the last hours of the Timeline. And before that, they anounce the anouncement in social media.
The next thing is the feeling, that all is focused to take the Money out of your pocket. It is just a feeling…
Anyone else feeling identical?

Post Reply
  • Information
  • Who is online

    Users browsing this forum: Mojeek [Bot] and 24 guests